DDoS attacks are little understood by most, yet pose a significant threat to our online lifestyle. Brian Krebs is an independent journalist who has singlehandedly sought out bad actors performing security attacks varying from online ransomeware to Mexican ABM card skimming. Krebsonsecurity.com has been hit over the last couole of days with DDoS on a scale that he indicates is unprecedented. The scale is over 600Gb per second – this in comparison to previous large attacks in the 200 Gb range. Furthermore the methods used indicate botnet leveraging of applicances previously never considered. These include personal home routers, which have … Continue reading DDoS attacks at unprecedented levels hit Krebs

Bitcoin reporting continues to be as vague as the average persons understanding of Blockchain. Nonetheless this loss will be closely followed. The last big loss was 2 years~ ago at MtGox in Japan, and that resulted in the exchange being shut down. Following MtGox closing in bankruptcy, here are the reasons according to Wired: But on the inside, according to some who were there, Mt. Gox was a messy combination of poor management, neglect, and raw inexperience. So Coindesk are doing no-one any favours by attempting to deflect the Bitfinex loss with a mid article shift to a discussion about … Continue reading Hong Kong-based Bitcoin exchange Bitfinex customers lose 120K BTC

The ongoing demise of online banking and its replacement by mobile banking continues. These statistics overshadow the almost 50% reduction trend in branch based transactions in UK that is expected to continue significantly to 2021. They also note this is not a reflection of bank disaffection; rather it is a shift in how customers interact with Banks. For industry wonks click through for the BBA/EY report. Apps crush internet for UK banking logins In 2015, there were 4.3 million online banking logins each day, down two per cent on the previous year, the BBA’s Way We Bank Now report shows. … Continue reading Bank customers move from online banking to mobile apps

This paragraph within an FT article tonight caught my attention. This is directly reminiscent of 2008 when a French Real Estate Fund froze redemptions. On Tuesday, the pound shed 2 per cent after a handful of large UK commercial property funds froze redemptions by clients, stoking concerns the fallout from last month’s vote in favour of leaving the EU was gathering pace. The “froze redemption” link goes to this: Investors have been barred from cashing in their assets in two more big commercial property funds amid widespread disposals of UK assets on fears that the economic fallout from last month’s vote to … Continue reading 2008 Banking redux

It seems to be that time again where we are on the cusp of a shift in internet behaviours and platforms. I have been noting themes in my reading over the past few months, and two recent pieces in particular solidified them for me. Mary Meeker report, State of the Internet that I referred to a few days ago, and several recent articles by Ben Thompson. The broad themes are: 1. Chat (as in texting) as an interface. 2. Natural Language Processing (NLP) (as in speaking) as an interface. If we think about it, these directions are entirely rational especially … Continue reading ChatUI and NLP as next generation interfaces